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Scientists of Modern India
Scientists of Modern India
Science and
Technology
Notes
17
SCIENTISTS OF MODERN INDIA
OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson you will be able to :
MODULE - VI
Science and
Technology
Notes
Lack of formal education made it very difficult for him to make both ends meet. With great
difficulty he could get the job of a clerk at Madras Port Trust which proved fortunate for
him. Here he came in contact with many people who had training in mathematics. He
found a book Orders of Infinity written by G. H. Hardy. He wrote a letter to him in
which he mentioned 120 theorems and formulae. Hardy was quick to recognise his genius
and he responded by arranging for him a passage to London. Despite his lack of required
qualification he was allowed to enroll at Trinity College from where he got his Bachelor of
Science degree in less than two years. He formed a wonderful team with Hardy and J.E.
Littlewood and made amazing contributions to the field of mathematics. He published
many papers in London. He was the second Indian to be elected Fellow of the Royal
Society of London and the first Indian to be elected Fellow of Trinity College.
Ramanujan had an intimate familiarity with numbers. In 1917, he fell seriously ill, but the
numbers remained his friend, though his body betrayed him. Unfortunately, his health became
worse and he returned to India in 1919, With a scientific standing and reputation. He
died in 1920. His mathematical genius is a proof that India indeed is the birthplace and
source of great mathematical ideas.
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Dr. Bose also made many other instruments famous all over the world as Bose instruments,
to prove that even metals react to outward stimuli. Boses instruments have shown, how
even steel and metals used in scissors and machinery get tired and regain efficiency after a
period of rest.
Besides Crescograph and other Bose instruments, his wireless inventions too antedated
those of Marconi. He was the first to invent a wireless coherer (radio signal detector) and
an instrument for indicating the refraction of electric waves. When someone drew his
attention towards this fact, he simply remarked that it is an invention which is more important
for mankind than the inventor.
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10. What work of Jagdish Chandra Bose gave him Knight position in London?
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11. Who invented Crescograph?
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12. What does a Crescograph record?
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13. Who invented the first wireless coherer?
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8. How did Dr Abdul Kalam help polio-affected people?
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Notes
Srinivasa Ramanujan was a great mathematical genius of India who has several
outstanding achievements in this field to his credit.
C.V. Raman was an outstanding Indian scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics
in 1930. His finding that light is made up of particles known as photons is known as the
Raman Effect.
Dr. J.C. Bose is credited with the invention of the Crescograph that can record plant
growth and movement, among other achievements, like devising instruments known
as Bose instruments.
Dr. Homi Bhabha was another great Indian Scientist who led India into the atomic
age.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was another great genius of modem India who was behind the
launching of Indias first satellite Aryabhatta. He was also a great industrialist who
founded many industries. He was the chairperson of INCOSPAR and the Atomic
Energy Commissions.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the President of India, developed the SLV3 which put the
satellite Rohini into orbit. As Director of DRDO, he developed five projects - Prithvi,
Trishul, Akash, Nag and Agni. He continues to inspire the Indian youth till today.
TERMINAL EXERCISE
1. Describe the contributions of Jagdish Chandra Bose in the field of sicence and
Technology.
2. Elaborate the efforts of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha in building India a super nuclear power.
3. How was C.V. Raman able to prove that our ancestors formulated great theories
using the power of their mind?
4. Dr Kalams life is a symbol of the true spirit of India. Discuss.
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1. Homi J. Bhabha
2. Mathematics
3. A research paper on Bernoulli numbers.
4. G.H. Hardy
5. In 1930
6. Blue colour of the sea
7. One molecular scattering of light
8. In the broken light, there were two spectral lines of low intensity parallel to the incident
monochromatic light. This showed that the broken light was not monochromatic though
the incident light was monochromatic.
9. Particles that together make light
10. His paper on the Electromagnetic Radiation and polarization.
11. Jagdish Chandra Bose
12. The millionth part of a centimeter growth of a plant and its movement.
13. Jagdish Chandra Bose
17.2
1. Cosmic Radiation
2. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).
3. Apsara
4. Cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles coming from the outer space.
5. He started the manufacturing of military hardware and producing antibiotics and penicillin
in India.
6. Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station
7. Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag, and Agni
8. He reduced the weight of caliphers from 4 kgs to 400 gms only.
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